THE COMMON GRASSHOPPERS. 159 



rather thick antennae upon its anterior surface, with 

 long wings and elytra extending beyond the end of 

 the abdomen, and with very long hind legs, the 

 efficiency of which in leaping is evidenced by the great 

 development of the thighs. 



If we add a few more particulars to the above, we 

 shall get the characters by which the insects of the 

 tribe of the LOCUSTINA, or common Grasshoppers, are 

 distinguished from the other Orthoptera. The head 

 bears three ocelli, of which two are placed between 

 the eyes, and the third between the bases of the an- 

 tennae. The latter are sometimes filiform, sometimes 

 thickened towards the tips, or even regularly clubbed, 

 as in the genus Gomphocerus, of which several species 

 are found commonly in this country. The tarsi are 

 composed only of three joints, and the abdomen of the 

 females is quite destitute of any external ovipositor. 



Like most of the insects of this order they are 

 strictly herbivorous, and feed almost entirely upon 

 grass and other low herbage. They appear to be 

 more agile than even the other Saltatorial or leaping 

 Orthoptera, and make use of their wings far more 

 freely. This is especially the case with the large 

 foreign migratory species, the dreaded Locusts, whose 

 ravages, when they descend in vast bands upon any 

 country, often denude it almost entirely of everything 

 green, leaving large districts as completely bare of 

 herbage as if they had been wasted with fire. The 

 common European species is the Locusta migratoria, 

 specimens of which occasionally find their way into 

 Britain, but it has no right to be regarded as a British 

 insect ; in Southern Europe, however, its devastations 

 are of so serious a nature, that considerable sums are 

 paid annually by the local authorities of many districts 



